Inkbrush of Virtue Arc
To Pillar of Nature Arc�� | ��To Novel These chapter summaries are based on RainbowSe7en 's translation and use terminology coined by the translator. The chapter "names" are made-up summaries neither taken from the novel nor the translation. The subscripts in this article are the original novel's chapter headings (which are really quotes from the chapter) and the translations thereof are (mostly) from RainbowSe7en's translation. Chapter 46 - Guo Changcheng Meets the Man in the Hat 从大雪山回来已经有半个月 - It has been half a month since their trip to the snowy mountain ranges. Guo Changcheng is on a charity errand in a snowed-in Dragon City, when a suspicious person runs into the street in front of his car. Nobody is hurt, since all the cars were going slowly in the snow. The person is described as pale and "so skinny as to appear deformed". The person has "a weathered and withering face" and their whole body seems "shrouded in darkness". There is a black smudge under the person's ear. Guo Changcheng gets out of the car to help, but the person refuses his help and runs off. When Guo Changcheng tries to get back into his car, he sees the person again in the reflection of his car window - much like he saw the skeleton in chapter 3. He sees the person hiding in a corner, and when two women pass by, the person opens a huge, inhuman mouth with a long tongue, and "makes a sucking motion" at the two. One of the women staggers, and an "insubstantial cloud" floats from her into the creature's mouth. When Guo Changcheng turns around, he can no longer see the creature. He drives off, frightened. At the office the next morning, Chu Shuzhi notices something odd about Guo Changcheng, saying he is "oozing bad luck". Chu Shuzhi performs some kind of ritual with his hands, pronouncing Guo Changcheng "clean" afterwards. He comments that Guo Changcheng must have been cultivating himself, since apparently "his virtue is so thick it's dripping off of him like oil". Zhao Yunlan makes a short, cryptic appearance, rushing into the library and out again with an old book, stealing Chu Shuzhi's and Da Qing's food on the way. We learn that Sang Zan has trouble understanding people, except for Wang Zheng, since language has changed a lot since the time he was alive. He is putting a lot of effort into learning to speak Mandarin, but often gets things wrong. He can only say simple sentences, and otherwise tries to repeat what other people tell him. This results in puns in Chinese, which are exceedingly hard to translate into English. When everyone is about to go home, Zhao Yunlan calls with a new case, and Chu Shuzhi and Guo Changcheng drive to Yellow Stone Temple Hospital to investigate. Chapter 47 - No Bed, Only Kunlun 楚恕之虽然不大和他说话，但是不多的几次在他面前露一手的机会，都…… - Although Chu Shuzhi doesn't talk to Guo Changcheng much, in the few times they've come in contact with each other, he always…… '' Guo Changcheng thinks about how Zhao Yunlan may be impressive, but not at all mysterious, whereas he sees Chu Shuzhi as some kind of "otherworldly sage". At the hospital, they find a man who is in unspeakable pain, complaining about his legs being broken, even though no injury to his legs is visible. The doctors suspect food poisoning, because he ate an orange he bought at a street stall. Chu Shuzhi looks at the patient's eyes and ears, the performs some kind of spell and presses his fist against the man's solar plexus. This stops the pain immediately, until he takes his hand away again. For Chu Shuzhi, the case is clear, and he leaves again, but everyone else is confused. Shen Wei returns to his "home on Earth," where he goes into his bedroom, which he always keeps locked. In it, there is no bed, only paintings and pictures of Kunlun aka Zhao Yunlan through the centuries. Shen Wei thinks about Zhao Yunlan's disinterest in writing letters and his own distrust of mobile phones. He remarks that Zhao Yunlan has stopped contacting him after their trip to the mountains, and he muses that it is just as well, since "his very existence is a mistake." He decides to keep watching him from afar, since human lives are so short, and Zhao Yunlan will forget him again when he dies, anyway. He then travels to hell, where the Judge, some "Hell Guards, including Black Ghost and White Ghost, as well as Ox-Head and Horse-Face" are waiting for him at the Bridge of Fate. The Judge is subservient but obviously scared of the Ghost Slayer. He tries to reassure Shen Wei that even though Zhao Yunlan has seen the Book of Life and Death, and "almost" found out about Shen Wei's identity, every memory of Kunlun has been removed since he has entered the mortal world. He tells Shen Wei that "as long as Ghost Face doesn't tattle," Zhao Yunlan will not find out anything. Chapter 48 - The Line of Karma and the Mark of Virtue ''“刚失恋，还不让人借酒浇愁?” - "I'm broken-hearted, why can't I drown my sorrows in alcohol?" Guo Changcheng and Chu Shuzhi type up their report from the hospital - Chu Shuzhi dictates and Guo Changcheng writes. Chu Shuzhi is convinced that the man is a victim of a demonic attack, and that this attack was against the law, and thus falls under SIU jurisdiction. Da Qing and Chu Shuzhi explain to Guo Changcheng the basics of Karma (as it applies to the Guardian novel): Both humans and demons get their karma and their virtue recorded on their bodies. But it is more important for demons, since they live longer. Da Qing even says it is irrelevant for humans, since "most people never get to reincarnate anyway. Life is so short, and men die like ants, long before karma can catch up to them," so he concludes that "accruing virtue really does a human no particular good." The Line of Karma is a mark beneath someone's eyelids. The deeper the line, the stronger the karma. The Mark of Virtue is a mark behind someone's ear. The darker the mark - it is compared to a "dirty fingerprint" - the less virtue. If someone has a lot of virtue, the mark is so bright it shines "like a ray of light". It is mentioned that Guo Changcheng has great virtue, and that Chu Shuzhi can see that. But even someone with the third eye has to concentrate hard to see the mark. Humans can't usually see them, and Da Qing and Chu Shuzhi are surprised when Guo Changcheng tells them he saw a mark on the person he almost ran over the day before. While they are writing their report, Zhao Yunlan stumbles in, dead drunk. He first goes to vomit in the bathroom, complains about being heartbroken over Shen Wei, then falls asleep at his desk. He blindly signs the report and other papers Wang Zheng brings him. Chu Shuzhi prevents him from calling a taxi home by stealing his phone and calling Shen Wei instead, in the hopes of making Shen Wei more sympathetic to Zhao Yunlan's plight. When Shen Wei arrives at the SIU office a short time later, they practically throw Zhao Yunlan at him out the door. Chapter 49 - Shen Wei takes Zhao Yunlan home 生者可以死，死可以生。生而不可与死，死而不可复生者，皆非情之至也 - For love, the living can die and the dead can once again live. The living who fear death and the dead who cannot again live are those who haven’t known enough love. Shen Wei takes a drunk Zhao Yunlan home. He puts him in his car, making him drink some water he heats with his power. Zhao Yunlan thinks about how he never dared contact Shen Wei since their trip to the mountains, but he also can't forget him, comparing everyone he meets to Shen Wei and finding them lacking: "none of them have the charisma of a well-educated scholar, none of them have features that look as if they'd been lifted from a famous portrait." He also remembers the time Shen Wei spent time with him at his apartment and how companionable and comfortable it was. He is sure that it's love, and he can't bring himself to give it up. When they get to Zhao Yunlan's apartment, Shen Wei puts him to bed. Zhao Yunlan isn't as drunk as he pretends to be, surreptitiously watching Shen Wei clean his apartment and collect trash and dirty laundry. He ruminates on how nobody in his life - except for his parents - has ever cared about him before. When Shen Wei is done, he returns to watch a 'sleeping' Zhao Yunlan, and instead of leaving, he leans in to lightly kiss Zhao Yunlan. Zhao Yunlan almost goes out of his mind trying to fake sleep, but with the kiss, he throws caution to the wind, like a "thread in his heart that has been holding up countless tonnes of weight finally breaks," and he decides to pursue Shen Wei, Ghost Slayer or not. He kisses Shen Wei back, who is stupefied and lets him, before finally pushing him away. They stare at each other for a while, and Zhao Yunlan tries to guess why Shen Wei doesn't want to be with him. But when he mentions that "humans die and become ghosts too," so maybe someday he'll become a ghost and be a worthy partner for Shen Wei, Shen Wei puts a hand on his mouth and stops him from finishing the thought. Zhao Yunlan then shows him a property contract for a house he bought for the two of them. He tells him about the plans he made for their future, how he imagined them living together. Shen Wei sees his long-suppressed desires come true, and it almost drives him insane. Chapter 50 - Shen Wei bites, Zhao Yunlan cooks 功德笔 五、一如往昔，历历在目 - The past is still present, flashing before his eyes Shen Wei thinks back on how conceited he was - thinking he could live without emotions, away from Zhao Yunlan. He recriminates himself for not being able to stay away, for being evil hellspawn, and for generally being unworthy. When Zhao Yunlan tells him that the only thing of value he possesses is his heart, and if Shen Wei doesn't "want to catch it, should forget about it," Shen Wei remembers Kunlun telling him the exact same thing thousands of years ago, in almost identical words. ("There is probably only this one thing about me that's worth a little something: my heart. You want it? Take it.") At that offer, Shen Wei feels his emotions running out of control, and the only thing he can think to do to diffuse them is to bite himself. Zhao Yunlan is shocked at the blood, and he thinks Shen Wei is afraid Zhao Yunlan was going to force himself on Shen Wei. Shen Wei tells him that he indeed caught Zhao Yunlan's heart. He then makes a very possessive speech about how he "will never let go anymore," even if Zhao Yunlan ever wants to leave him, "there is no way he will let him go." Zhao Yunlan is taken aback again, but he can now see how Shen Wei is the Ghost Slayer. He cleans up the soiled bedsheets and they fall asleep, exhausted. Shen Wei sleeps soundly for the first time in ages. He wakes to weird smells in the apartment, and it turns out Zhao Yunlan made five different kinds of instant noodles for breakfast, one kind even cooked in coffee. Shen Wei is disgusted but eats some anyway. At the end of the chapter, Zhao Yunlan is called to the hospital again, to meet the next victim of their current case.